We paint shopfronts and business frontages in Overstone, about 5 miles north-east of Northampton town centre. The village has no high street, so this work covers a handful of premises: the post office and the businesses grouped around the lakes in the south-east of the park.
A village with no high street
Overstone does not have a parade of shops. Mapping shows only a small set of trading frontages: Overstone Post Office near Woodland Avenue in the village, and a cluster around the lakes and caravan site in the south-east of Overstone Park, made up of Park Stores, Acorn Cafe, The Poolside Cafe, the Overstone Lake Restaurant and the Overstone Manor pub. The Aldi store and filling station by the A43 sit on the Overstone Leys side rather than in the village.
Because there are so few frontages, each one is a one-off. There is no shared street style to follow, and each building is surveyed on its own terms. The post office is in the village near Woodland Avenue, off Sywell Road, which carries through-traffic, so ladder footing, parking for the van and a clear route for pedestrians are planned in advance. The lakeside premises are set back within the park, away from the road, where the bigger issue is the setting around them rather than traffic.
The lakeside cluster
The businesses by Pike Pond and Upper Pond share conditions that affect paint. They are surrounded by water, trees and parkland, so frontages there are prone to:
- Green algae on timber fascias, frames and boarding, especially on shaded sides.
- Leaf litter and tree sap on sills, signboards and outdoor seating areas.
- Damp timber that takes longer to dry after rain.
We start with a fungicidal wash and allow proper drying time before priming, and we pick finishes that can be wiped down, since a cafe or pub entrance gets handled and knocked far more than a house door. Where customers sit outside, we stage the work so tables can stay in use on the parts not being painted.
Painting around opening hours
A post office, a convenience shop, two cafes, a restaurant and a pub all keep different hours. Before we start, we agree a timetable with you. Typically that means:
- Doing noisy or dusty preparation, such as scraping and sanding, before opening or in the quietest part of the day.
- Painting the entrance door and frame in halves or at the quietest point of trading, so customers always have a dry way in.
- Keeping ladders and sheets tight to the building, with clear wet-paint signs, so the walkway stays open.
- Clearing everything away at the end of each session, so nothing is left in the way of trade.
Timber beside the ponds dries slowly after rain, so if showers are forecast we would rather move a session than put paint on damp wood by the water.
Colours, signage and the setting
None of the trading premises named here appears on the list of Grade II buildings we hold for the parish, and Overstone has no conservation area, so colour is largely your choice. In a parkland setting, deep greens, greys and stone tones tend to sit comfortably among the trees and still read clearly from a distance. If your sign board is painted, we can repaint the background and protect or work around the lettering. Lettering itself is a job for a signwriter.
For larger premises in the parish, such as the golf club, the cricket club, the village hall or Overstone Park School, see our commercial painting service. The main shopfront painting page covers products and preparation in more depth, and our Overstone area page describes the village’s housing and listed buildings.
Last updated by Dean, DH Painter & Decorator.
